Hey!
This is my first post on TVT! I'm excited to learn, and hopefully to gain some experience and share too.
ANYHOW...
I have a new-to-me '87 4WD with the push-button 4wd with so-called automatic hubs. Tonight there was a wicked snowstorm with some mean ass drifts. So I stopped, and pressed the 4WD button, and then proceeded to drive. A few minutes later I encountered a slick hill, and ONLY THE REAR WHEELS WERE SPINNING. I am 99% sure that no 'power' was reaching the front wheels. They weren't even trying to spin.
it was as if I just had a rear wheel drive van. no offense to you 2wd van folks, but I was bummed out. i was also stuck. some dude in a ford excretion was really nice and pulled my van up the hill and then a few blocks to my driveway. i am super grateful that a stranger hooked it up, but I just got a 4WD van so that I could be the man and I was left feeling mighty lame.
what are my first steps in diagnosing the 'problem'? I want to make the 4WD operable. I want to have some clue as to what the 'real' problem is before bringing this to a mechanic. is there some way that I can determine whether the problem is the hubs or the...???
my lady already thought i was nuts to go dump some $$$ on some old van. i told her it was cool because it was 4wd, and that i'd be taking her places she'd never imagined. i need this fixed before she finds out it doesn't even go into 4wd!
thanks van techs!!!